Simbri morphology

Infinitive and simple present.
The citation form is the infinitive:

wecha to write

techam

to give

awin

to sow

ira

to go, to leave.

To form the singular forms of the simple present of intransitive verbs, simply add the personal suffixes to the root: As you see, for intransitive verbs, the 3rd person singular present is identical to the infinitive. No distinction of noun class is made. The 4th person is used to alleviate potential ambiguities: qecha min qaan oqecha

run and not 4-run

He runs, but that one doesn't. The dual and the plural are formed following the same rules as for nouns:

The personal prefixes (or lack thereof) are the same for singular, dual and plural. The dual and plural distinguish inclusive and exclusive first person, that is 'we', including the listener and we, excluding them.

You may, very rarely, find ye- in the singular, for instance: yeqecha instead of waqecha for  'I run'. This is actually the older singular form, and it's hardly ever found except in older texts and a handful of dialects: compare the use of thou in English.

Transitive verbs.

Transitive verbs follow the same principle, but you need to mark a direct object. The direct object markers are, quite simply, the oblique markers otherwise used for the possessive:

A third person subject requires the long forms, everywhere else, use the short forms. oawin

o-awin

UNCOUNT-sow

he sows (grain)

xicawin

xi-c-awin

2-UNCOUNT-sow

you sow (grain) In European languages, we may freely omit the object of transitive verbs when it's unknown or irrelevant: he hunts, he writes. Transitive verbs, in the simple tenses, require object marking no matter what. When the object isn't known, the Countable prefix is used: tawecha

ta-wecha

COUNT-writing

He's writing (something) This helps differentiate between, for instance, tawanne, he/she hunts (something) and tlewanne he/she hunts (a previously mentioned animal)

Let's run through the simple present paradigm again, this time with a transitive verb:

The Past tense
To form the past tense:


 * The last vowel of the infinitive is deleted: CVCV > CVC-
 * awin > awn-
 * wecha > wech-
 * wane > wan-
 * qecha > qech-
 * If there's a final consonant, keep it in place: CVCVC: CVCC-
 * techam > techm-
 * ewar > ewr-
 * If there's a medial consonant cluster, leave the vowel in place: CVCCVC > CVCCVC-
 * tetcham > tétcham-
 * (Note that the stressed vowel remains the same)
 * Then add the past tense ending: -et
 * awin > awnet
 * wecha > wechet
 * wane > wanet
 * qecha > qechet
 * techam > techmet
 * ewar > ewret
 * tetcham > tétchamet

The dual past tense ends in -eti; and the plural in -it


 * cawin, cawem, cawen > cawnet, cawnete, cawnit

The mediative past
For the mediative past tense, similarly remove the last vowel, and add the reported pas ending -an:


 * awin > awnan
 * wecha > wechan
 * wane > wanan
 * qecha > qechan
 * techam > techman
 * ewar > ewran
 * tetcham > tétchaman

The dual is in -om, and the plural in -in:

cawin, cawem, cawen > cawnan, cawnom, cawnin

The future
The future is formed in the same way, by removing the last vowel and adding the ending -is:


 * awin > awnis
 * wecha > wechis
 * wane > wanis
 * qecha > qechis
 * techam > techmis
 * ewar > ewris
 * tetcham > tétchamis

The dual is in -es, and the plural in -ix:

cawin, cawem, cawen > cawnis, cawnes, cawnix

Present

 * The present tense is used for all ongoing states or actions:
 * Ongoing states and conditions
 * Ongoing actions: he's sowing, he's been sowing: bapa cawin, he is sowing potatoes (right now)

Past

 * The past tense is, simply enough, used for past event. The simple past is perfective in meaning:
 * waourjet, I ate

Mediative
The mediative past adds a notion of distance. Typically it's used:

For events before the speaker's lifetime, historical accounts, mythology
In the city of Trages a young man prophecized Sandet an Taris yisran yimmar.

sande-t an Taris yisr-an yimmar

city-at that Taris prophecize-MED youth.

Reported speech:
ewor qaan takoq-an

say not COUNT-understand-MED

He says he doesn't understand.

Recent past events the speaker wants to distance himself with:
Yeworis Bollo bon tleqanjan tleyener idya yin.

Yeworis mad king ANIM-assassin-CAUS-MED ANIM-cook past year.

(They say) Mad King Yeworis had his cook murdered last year.

The past and mediative used for future events.
Strictly predictable events may use the past tense instead of the future: Icca kecca yinni tlajjis

next four years eclipse-PST

There will be an eclipse in four years. This meaning extends to threats or strong warnings: Yin xitlesibmo, yiawnis.

yin xi-tle-sibm-o              / yi-wn-is

exist 2-ANIM-touch-SUBJ / 2.PAT-lament-PST

If you touch him, you will regret it. The past tense is also used for general truths: Tlottis tloyo ibris.

tlot-tis tloyo ibr-is

east-at sun sunrise-PAST

The sun rises in the east. The past can be replaced by the mediative if the speaker wishes to distance himself from the statement: Nassene yiouccan qecon yin qaan xiitlexanjo Yeworis-ticham.

nas-sene yi-oucc-an qeco-n yin qaan xi-i-tle-xanjo Yeworis-ticham

true-better 2.OBL-eat-MED chilli-with exist not 2SUBJ-2OBL-ANIM-comply Yeworis-HON

His Majesty, King Yeworis will certainly eat you in chilli if you don't comply. Note here that, as shown by nassene,  'it is certain'  the reality of the threat is not in question. The speaker here wishes to emphasize his status as a messenger, relaying but not condoning the king's order.

The future
The future tense is used for all reasonably probable future events. tawechis

he will write.

waqechis

I will run As we've seen the past and mediative are occasionally used with a future meaning. In general, using the future tense is the best choice, even with very strong promises: Wabomer wanasoris.

1-sacrifice 1-be.thruthful-FUT

I swear I'll tell the truth. Wiqaandsis, masis!

wi-qands-is, mas-is

1.OBL-revenge-FUT dog-with

I'll have my revenge, I swear! (Lit: by the dog!)

The future's range of meaning also includes capacity: wawewjis

wa-wewj-is

1.SUBJ-swim-FUT

I can swim. (Lit: I will swim)

Or even general tendancies:

tleatlsis

tle-atls-is

ANIM-anger-FUT

He's irritating. (Lit: He will anger people.)

The perfect.
A range of perfect tenses are formed by changing the first vowel to a.


 * Present tawecha, he writes > Perfect tawacha, he has written.
 * Past tawechet, he wrote > Past perfect tawachet, he had written.
 * Mediative tawechan (it is said) he wrote > Mediative perfect tawachan, (it is said) he had written
 * Future tawechis, he will write > Future perfect tawachis, he will have written.

If the first vowel is already -a- it changes to


 * Present cawin, he sows > caawin, he has sown.

Usage.
The perfect is used for currently relevant situations.

Currently relevant situations.
The perfect is used for changes of state:

Compare, for instance, the present: wataiqaa

wa-ta -iqaa

I-ANIM-know

I know that. with the perfect: wataaqaa

wa-ta-qaa

I-ANIM-know

I know that (now). There are four of us: Wakeccitl.

wa-kecc tl

1SUBJ-be.four

We are four. Then, as a fifth person arrives: Wallanitl.

wa-ll ntl

1SUBJ-be.five

Now we are five. It's also used for the ongoing result of a change that occured in the past: Wanqaarom widarja idya yeqna.

wa-n-qrom wi-darja idya yeqna

1SUBJ-BLADE-lose 1OBL-knife last month

''I lost my knife last month. (and I still haven't found it)'' The perfect can also express that the situation has been experienced at least once: wacajjo hugbamos

wa-c-cajjo huqbamos

1s-UNCT-PRF\eat elephant

I have eaten elephant. Cardosa yandi

Cardosa PRF\be.there

He has been to Cardosa.

Recent past
In Loqriste and River Delta (TODO) usage, the 'currently relevant' usage extends to the recent past: Watleasis awmi sebartlon wa-tle-asis awmi sebartlon

1-ANIM-PRF\meet farmer this-morning

I met the farmer this morning. Nas abo saya nas abo saya

verily PRF\rain yesterday

It rained yesterday. In those dialects, the perfect will be used for events more recent than a few days.

As a passive
That is not all. The Simbri perfect is also used as a passive. '''Watleima. Wiima > Ama. Waama''' wa-tle-ima / wi-ima > ama /wa-ama

1-ANIM-love / 1.OBL-love > PRF\love / 1-PRF\love

''He loves me. I love him > He is loved. I am loved. The agent can be reintroduced with an oblique marker: 'Tlebaqo wannin somaa. > Baaqo somaa > Tlebaaqo somaa wannin.'''

tle-baqo wannin somaa > baaqo somaa > tle-baqo somaa wannin

ANIM-devour panther grandma > PRF\devour grandma > ANIM-PRF\devour grandmother panther.

''The panther ate grandma. Grandma was eaten. Grandma was eaten by the tiger.'' Waaner oucca  > Aaner oucca > Wiaaner oucca

wa-aner oucca > aaner oucca > wi-aaner oucca

1-cook porridge > PRF\cook porridge > 1.OBL-PRF\cook porridge.

''I cook the porridge. The porridge is cooked. The porridge has been cooked by me.''

As the last translation shows, there's a good bit of overlap between the perfect and passive meaning. Simbri makes no distinction between dynamic and stative passive, or between get- and is- passives, to use English-language terminology:

'''Xasses. Xasses saya'''

xasses / xasses saya

PRF\marry\DUAL / PRF\marry\DUAL yesterday.

''They're married. They got married last year.''

Passive and perfect are always perfective. To translate English 'is being...', use the imperfective instead. Aaner oucca.

**The porridge is being cooked but the porridge is cooked (already)

Tleener oucca.

''The porridge is being cooked. He/she/one is cooking the porridge.''

Past, present and future perfect.
The past, present and future perfect straightforwarldy refer to events that were or will be currently relevant. Wanqaarmet widarja, yindi qaan xiqawbet ollix

wa-n-qaarm-et wi-darja / yindi qaan xi-qawb-et oll-ix

1-BLADE-PRF\lost-PAST 1.OBL-knife / therefore not UNCOUNT-cut-PAST apple-PL

I had lost my knife so I didn't cut the apples. The meaning extends to a past or future anterior: Tlenawnan maweh an Telemma tletlenobmerin Pexxoqanas Peššuqɔŋas

tle-nawn-an maweh an Tilma tle-le-no-bmer-in Pexxoqanas

ANIM-PRF\defeat-MED maweh that Tilma ANIM-ANIM-APPL-sacrifice-PL.MED Pexxoqanas

They defeated the maweh (mythical king) of Telemma and then they sacrificed him to Pexxoqanas

They may also be used for situations in the past and the future that are relevant now:  Batlan yindi piyo domyo

batl-an yindi piyo domyo

PRF\sick-MED therefore zero pay.taxes.

 He says he's been sick, so he pays no taxes. ''' Co xitleasis Agustín-tlas? Qaan. Wayandet Bomaqem (techa damrit Ersiq.)'''

co xi-tle-asis Agustín-tlas / qaan / wa-yand-et Bomaqem techa damr-it Ersiq

Q 2-ANIM-PRF\meet Agustín-HON / Not / 1-PRF/be.there-PST Bomaqem when arrive-PST.PL Earth.people

''Have you met Agustín? No, I was in Bomaqem (when the Earth people arrived.'') Yetlon '''watleirwer. Techa bon, wiqaannis .'''

yetlon wa-tle-iwer / techa bon / wi-qaan-is

now 1-ANIM-speak/PL / when king / 1-PRF\assassinate-FUT

''We have to speak to him now. When he is king, he'll have power of life and death over us !''

Imperfect
The imperfect is formed by changing the first vowel of the infinitive to e


 * Present cawen, he sows > Present imperfect cewen, he is sowing
 * Past cawnet, he sowed > Past imperfect cewnet, he was sowing.
 * Mediative cawnan (it is said) he sowed > Mediative imperfect cewnan, (it is said) he was sowing
 * Future cawnis, he will write > Future perfect cewnis, he will be sowing.

If the first vowel is e, then it changes to i:

tawecha, he writes > tawicha, he is writing.

whereas i becomes e:


 * tleiwor, he talks to someone > tleewor, he's talking to someone.

Itle biya?

do.what kid /

Present imperfect.
The present imperfect is used for habitual meanings:

Towo techa tlesis betlox, wanenya.

towo techa tle-sis betl-ox / wa-nenya

even when ANIM-with friend-PL / 1s-IPRF/afraid.

Even when I'm with friends, I'm scared. Wacmewo wewjo bartlon.

wa-c-meyo wewjo bartlon

1-UNCT-IPRF/need wine morning.

I need some wine in the morning. watlenetcha kaadas qaaonda

wa-tle-netcha kaadas qaaon-da

1-ANIM-IPRF\ride donkey school-to

I ride a donkey to school. It also serves as an imperfective counterpart to the perfect. That is, an action, not viewed as complete that is currently relevant. Waewor min tleis

1-PRF\talk and ANIM-close/IMP

I'm talking, so shut up. '''Illa biya ? Cejjo tlonya'''

illa biya / c-ejjo tlonya

do.what kid / UNCT-IPRF\eat earth.

''What's the kid doing ? He's eating dirt. 'Lacha sittonat ? Ma an domesa.'''

lacha sit-tonat / ma an do-mesa

what-COUNT that-noise / pyramid that BUILD-PRF\build.

''What's that noise? Oh, they're building a pyramid.'' Co xiqeyan?

Q 2-PRF\busy ?

Are you busy right now?

As an antipassaive
The imperfective can be used to change an intransitive verb into a transitive one.

More precisely, patient marking becomes optional in the imperfect.


 * xicawin, you sow something > xiewin, you sow, you're sowing. > xicewin, you're sowing something.
 * watwecha, you're writing. > wawicha, I'm writing, I write > watwicha, you're writing something.
 * domesa, he's building > mesa, he's building, he's a builder

The imperfect of transitive verbs has the effect of taking the focus away from the direct object, implying either that's it's not affected, only partially affected (imperfected) or irrelevant.

Passive with inverse marking.
The imperfective can also be used as a passive with the 4th person prefix o-


 * Caner oucca  'he cooks porridge'  > ocaner oucca ' the porridge is being cooked'.
 * Tlewoyam majô  'he killed the colonel'  > otleweyam majô, 'the colonel is being killed'.

The verb is marked for direct object with -c- and the 4th person has here an imperfective meaning. Again there's a sense of current relevance

'''Ic! Otleweyam majô'''

ic / o-tle-weyam majô

come / 4-ANIM-IPRF/kill colonel

''Help! Someone is killing the colonel!''

'''Wiyaqô! Ocaner oucca'''

wi-yaqô / o-c-aner oucca

1.OBL-hungry / 4-UNCT-cook porridge.

''I'm hungry! The porridge is cooking.''

Tentative
The imperfective can be used with a tentative meaning: Wiorestor

wi-orestor

1.OBL-IPRF\convince.

He's trying to convince me. yin yekel, an watewor.

it.is con.man / that 1-IPRF/say

What I'm trying to say is that he's a crook.

Past imperfective
The past imperfective is used for the past habitualmawam waosesqis bascar mawa=m wa-o-sesqis bascar

child-ABS 1-UNCT-IPRF\gather firewood

When I was a child, I used to gather the firewood. For background events or descriptions: Wanetchis tleqon iwa techa nemakis winatcha.

wa-netch-is tle-qon iwa techa nemak-is wi-natcha

1-IPRF\ride\past ANIM-bank river when rear.up-PST 1.OBL-horse

I was riding along the river when my horse reared up.

It can be used as well for successful, or unsuccesful attempts, compare: Tletlendis kaadas tlammas sôrsa Piyon.

tle-tlend-is kaadas tlammas s-ôrsa Piyon

ANIM-IPRF\sell-PST donkey lame 1EXCL-uncle Piyon

Uncle Piyon tried to sell him a lame donkey. and Tletlandis kaadas tlammas sôrsa Piyon.

tle-tland-is kaadas tlammas s-ôrsa Piyon

ANIM-IPRF\sell-PST donkey lame 1.EXCL-uncle Piyon

Uncle Piyon sold him a lame donkey.

The first example is ambiguous as to whether Uncle Piyon sold his donkey or not.

Mediative imperfect.
The mediative imperfect parallels the use of the past imperfect,


 * for habitual meanings:

Iwor sôrsa Piyon qetchan yin siyar.

taiwor s-ôrsa Piyon qetch-an yin siyar

CT-say 1.EXCL-uncle Piyon IPRF\pray-MED exist night.

Uncle Piyon says he prays every night.


 * as an imperfective:

Metsan Qetchaneq techa towran Somtlô ô Qoan

mets-an Qetchaneq techa towr-an Somtlô ô Qoan

IPRF\herd-MED Qetchaneq when speak-PST fountain HON Qoan

Qetchaneq was tending sheep when the Fountain, Qoan, spoke.

The optative
The optative is formed by adding the infix -i- after the first vowel of the infinitive.


 * taiwar, he says something > taiiwar, let him say (something)
 * tawecha, he writes something > taweicha, let him write something


 * wacôjji, we eat (something) > wacôijji, let us eat something

The infix -i-, while constituting a syllable, doesn't alter the location of the stress:

wacôjji [waˈcoʊʔ.ʔji] > wacôijji [waˈcoʊ.iʔ.ʔji]

Simbri has an optative active, perfect and imperfect, in the present, past, mediative and future. All optative forms are constructed by adding the infix -i- to the corresponding indicative form. This is best summarized in table format:

The optative expresses hopes and wishes, with the general implication that the event is considered likely: Kaissis sarsa.

ka <i>ssis s-arsa

brave<OPT> 1.EXCL-brother

May my brother be brave.

The future optative implies that the condition isn't yet true: Poichis.

po <i>ch-is

unimportant<OPT>-FUT.

Hopefully it won't matter.

The past and mediative optative are used for past hopes: Ida dosôr ô Bonsiq Âsisqan qân doaillan Qanien tleeyemon Monassis yisor.

id-an do-sôr ô bonsiq Âsisqan qân do- <a><i>ll-an Qanien tle-eyemon Monassis yisor.

go-MED BUILD-inside HON basilica Âsisqan not BUILD-<PRF><OPT>steal-MED Qanien ANIM-treasure Monassis emperor

Âsisqan entered the Basilica: hopefully the Qanien hadn't stolen Emperor Monassis' treasure. Ersaq witoinyet.

ersaq wi-to <i>ny-et

Earth.person 1.OBL-hear<OPT>-PAST

(I hoped) the Earthman had heard me. However, when the speaker wishes in the present that an action had taken place in the past the perfect is used, no matter how remote the event: Watoma Somtlô ô Qoan taqâirnâ techa tlenoyran qeyin.

wa-toma somtlô ô qoan ta-qâ <i>rnâ techa tle-noyr-an qeyin

1-think Fountain HON Qoan UNCT-<OPT>PRF\ponder when ANIM-create-MED universe

I should think the Fountain, Qoan thought this through when He-She created the universe.

The subjunctive
The present subjunctive is formed by removing the last vowel of the infinitve, and adding the suffix -o


 * taiwar, he says something > taiwro, maybe he says something
 * tawecha, he writes something > tawecho, maybe he writes something.
 * qecha, he runs > qecho, maybe he runs.

The suffixes -e and -i are added for, respectively, the dual and plural:


 * qecha, he runs > qecho, maybe he runs > qechoe, maybe they both run > qechoi, maybe they run.

The subjunctive has forms for present, past, mediaative and future, formed by adding the following suffixes to the present form (after the plural and dual suffixes, if present):


 * -t for the past: qechot, maybe he ran, qechoet, maybe they both ran, qechoit, maybe they ran.
 * -n for the mediative: qechon, maybe he ran, qechoen, maybe they both ran, qechoin, maybe they ran.
 * -s for the future: qechos, maybe he will run, qechoes, maybe they'll both run, qechois, maybe they'll run.

There are simple, perfect and imperfect forms as well.

Again, all of this is best presented in a synoptic table:

The subjunctive is used for counterfactual or hypothetical states: waratl wamayno

waratl wa-mayn-o

pityful 1-knight.SUBJ.

I would make a poor knight. Condition and hypotheses: Sicca qaan waotletocjo samomer iyno

sicca qaan wa-o-tle-to-cj-o sa-mom-er iyn-o

that.UCT not I-UCT-ANIM-APPL-feed-SUBJ 1.OBL-rodent-PL exist-SUBJ

I wouldn't give that to the rodents, if I had rodents. Xiwabasseno yindi qaan siyet

xi-wabas-sen-o yindi qaan siy-et

2-IPRF\stupid-IPRF\more-SUBJ therefore not breathe-PAST

If you were any more stupid, you couldn't breathe.

It's also used to convey doubt or hesitation, even rhetorical: Qomoi meme min idnoi aqme?

qom-o-i mem-e min idn-o-i aqm-e

die-SUBJ-PL free-PL and live-SUBJ-PL captive-PL

Should (we) live free or die as slaves? Finally, it's used for hopes and wishes when these are counterfactual, or viewed as unlikely: Ersiq qân aco yindi wison sinet.

ersiq qaan a-c-o yindi wi-son sin-et

Earth people not PRF-come-SUBJ therefore 1.OBL-sleep better-PAST

If the Earth people hadn't come, I'd sleep better. Xa taiqo bon an laom.

xa ta-iq-o bon an laom

alas CT-know-SUBJ king that good

If only our good king knew that! For that last case, the dialects of Janessa and surrounding areas use a combination of subjunctive -o and optative -i. Cardosatli qaan wapoissoi.

Cardosa-tli qaan wa-po <i>ss-o-i

Cardosa-of.PL not 1-without<OBL>-SUBJ.PL

If only there were no Cardosans! Outside these areas, this combination is used on occasion to soften requests: Waotletaymainqo.

wa-ta-y-ma <i>nq-o

1-CT-2-ask<OPT>-SUBJ

I wanted to ask you something.

Other tenses
The subjunctive future is used for conditions that are not true now, but envisioned as a future possibility:

Techa yindi towô yisis yiqamxos, qân xitlods-o techa yindi towô yisis yi-qamx-o-s / qân xi-tlods-o

then therefore as.well yours 2.OBL-widow-SUBJ-FUT / not 2-be.careful.SUBJ

If you're not careful, she'll be your widow too  Wayissos oyô sine. wa-y-iss-o-s oyô sine

1-2-meet-SUBJ-FUT late more

I may meet you later. The past and mediative subjunctive are used for past possibilities: Mallarmô tlindon Siya ô Qartlim. Mallarmô tlind-o-n Siya ô Qartlim

Mallarmô reach-SUBJ-MED sea HON endless

Mallarmô may have reached the Endless Ocean.

The imperative
The imperative is formed by removing the last vowels of the infinitive, and suffixing:


 * -e
 * -ew in the dual
 * -ey in the plural.

The imperative isn't mark for tense, but there are simple, imperfect and perfect forms.

Infinitives
Simbri verbs have four forms of the infinitive: the simple, perfect, imperfect and deontic infinitives.

For regular verbs, the simple, perfect and imperfect infinitives are identical to the third person present, without object prefixes:


 * tawecha, 'he writes (something)' → wecha, 'to write', wacha, 'to have written', wicha, 'to be writing'
 * cawen, 'he sows (something) → awen, 'to sow', âwen, 'to have sown', ewen, 'to be sowing'

The deontic infinitive is formed by replacing the first vowel of the simple infinitive by -an- / -am- before p,b,w The pattern is CaNCVC


 * tawecha, 'he writes (something)' → wecha 'to write' → wancha 'to have to write'âw

Participles
There are three forms of participles: simple, perfect and imperfect, multiplied by seven noun classes.

Participle are, in fact, the closest thing Simbri has to adjectives; they will agree in class and sometimes number with the nouns they modifiy.

The participles is formed by removing the last vowel, and adding an agreement marker. The pattern is CVCC+suffix, as shown in the table below:

Pluralization is optional and follows the plural rules for nouns:


 * moris wechi 'a person who vrites' →morix wechi, 'people who write' or morix weche
 * soya âwnin 'a sown flower' →soye âwnin or soye âwnem 'two sown flowers'

Irregular present
The basic characteristic for irregular verbs is that the finite verb forms don't match the infitive.

Comparing for instance wecha, 'to write' and tlaor, 'to announce'

What is happening?

The past and mediative are regularly derived from the infinitive: tlaor →tlar (removing the last vowel) →tlaret, tlaran.

The present, however, isn't *tatlaor as expected, but tatlaan, from an unexpected present stem: -tlaan

The future is formed irregular as *tatlaos, instead of the expected *tatlaris.

Verbs with an irregular present often have a present ending in -n: this is often accompanied by other irregularities.

Irregular perfect and imperfect.
Some verbs form the imperfect and perfect by other means than the usual vowel change. For instance masse 'to think'

Here the imperfect and perfect infinitives are unpredictable from the simple infinitive, but other verb forms are derived regularly from the corresponding infinitive.

This extends to the participles: mema →memi '(currently) thinking'.

Defective verbs
Some verbs lack imperfect forms, notably ira 'to go', which has the irregular perfect ayar and no imperfect.

Tantum verbs only appear in a single aspect, with no simple/imperfect/perfect distinction:


 * mawô 'to lack'
 * iras 'to sing'
 * son 'to sleep'

Y-verbs
Y-verb are an additional dialectal complication, not found in koine Simbri.

In those dialects, verbs begin with an initial y, which is lost when prefixed:


 * yewon 'to lament, to mourn' →taewon 'he laments it', cf koine Simbri: tayewon
 * yeras 'to sing' →waeras 'I sing', cf. koine iras 'to sing' →wairas

This was common in Old Simbri, and has survived in many rural dialects, notably in the Qen and in rural areas of the Holy Triangle.

A few irregular verbs.
A few examples will help identify common patterns:

Our understanding of Imperial Tarandim and old Tarandim is, as yet, too limited to describe these irregularities diachronically. But we know enough to explain some of these patterns:


 * Imperial Tarandim had an imperfect (marked with reduplication) and a perfective (marked by final -a) in addition to stative and antipassive forms, marked by vowel change. The imperfect merged with the antipassive and the perfective with the stative in Simbri. Generally, the vowel-changing forms won out, giving rise to the regular paradigms. The reduplicated and -a forms persisted in many of the irregular verbs.
 * Presents in -n are already found in many irregular Imperial verbs; these go back to Old Tarandim. It's likely these marked a punctual aspect.
 * The irregular past tense ending in -mar/-mer derives from the regular past tense marker in Old Tarandim. The Imperial Tarandim and Simbri past tense marker was originally a deictic suffix.
 * Old Tarandim had distinct classes of stative and dynamic verbs. The etymon of present, perfect and imperfect forms sometimes go back to different verbs, as (for instance) stative verb didn't have imperfect forms.

Principal parts
Verbs are listed in the lexicon as follows:


 * For regular verbs, only the infinitive is listed:
 * sibim 'to touch'
 * Many irregular verbs only have irregular imperfect and perfect stems. All verb forms can be deduced from the three infinitives. The three infinitives are liste in the lexicon:
 * porô 'to destroy', pepô, poya
 * When simple tenses are irregular, the simple tenses forms are listed along with the three infinitives. For all verbs, the simple tense forms are listed without prefixes. The order is infinitive, simple present, simple past, simple mediative, simple future, imperfect infinitive, perfect infinitive.
 * qassis 'to owe', qassin, qasset, qassan, qassex, qeqan, qâssis
 * This cover mosts irregular verbs; for the handful of exceptions
 * tondis 'to squeeze', tonchin, tonchet, tonchet,, tonchan, tendis, tendis, past/mediative imperfect stem: tench-, tandis, past/mediative stem tanch-



Expanded verbs
The meaning of a verb can be further modified by other processes: verbal prefixes, noun incorporation and verbal suffixes.

These are generally very productive, but not consistently applicable to all verbs.

Verbal prefixes
The following verbal prefixes that can be used, applied here to wecha 'to write' a verb for which all of these apply.

Essentially, applying the prefix forms a new verb, to which the base inflections (tense, aspect, mood, person, number) described above.

The pattern is prefix-CCVC; that is, the first vowel of the verb is deleted before adding the prefix.

If there is a medial consonant cluster:

reduplicated consonants are reduced:

r is lost:

In all other cases, the vowel is kept:

Conjugation of prefixed verbs.
The imperfect and perfect are formed by changing the new first vowel; that is, the vowel of the prefix, with the following exceptions:


 * With the reflexive olo-, the second vowel of the prefix changes.
 * With the repetitive prefix qo-, the imperfect form is qi-

For instance:


 * wecha 'to write' → wacha 'to have, to be written' → wicha 'to be writing' → lowcha, 'to rewrite', olowcha 'to write to oneself' → wôwcha, 'to dictate',


 * qowcha 'to rewrite' → qawcha 'to have, to be rewritten' → qiwcha 'to be rewriting'
 * olowcha 'to write to oneself' → olawcha 'to have written to oneself' → olewcha 'to be writing to oneself'
 * wôwcha 'to dicate' → wawcha 'to have, to be dictated' → wewcha 'to have, to be dictating'.

For most verbs, and given these rule above, all prefixed verbs form their imperfect and perfect forms regularly. Irregularities in the base forms are lost.


 * ico 'to come' → keco 'to be coming' → qoco 'to come back'
 * qoco 'to come back' → qeco 'to be coming back'
 * xowô 'to see' → karom 'to be seen, to have seen' → texwô 'to see each other'
 * texwô 'to see each other' → taxwô 'to have seen each other'.

Tense and mood is usually formed regularly:


 * iwon, 'to suffer' → wonyan 'he suffers' → sewon 'to suffer with, to share pain' → tlesewon 'he shares suffering, he suffers with s.o'
 * tondis 'to squeeze' → otonchin 'she/he squeezes, presses it' → totondis 'to squeeze with sth.' → tletotondis 'he presses by hand'

But for some verbs, the irregularities of the base verb carries over to the prefixed form:


 * iyan 'to work metal' → qoyan 'to reforge' → qanya 'to be reforged'
 * larmaq 'to remember' → tlelarmaqom 'they remember him' → telmaqom 'they remember each other'.

This is generally speaking unpredictable. The safer course for the learner, when in dobut, is to form the prefixed form from the base form for all tenses, aspects and moods, and so to keep the irregularities of the source verb.

Distance
Two mutually exclusive prefixes indicate distance or direction of motion.

The proximal prefix
The proximal prefix i- expresses motion towards the speaker or a third person: itlmaset tosaq.

i-tlmas-et tosaq

PROX-limp-PAST stranger

The stranger came here limping. Bannas ekwer

bannas e-kwer

mammoth here\PROX.IPRF-attack

The mammoth is charging us.

Qân inse!

qân i-ns-e

not PROX-point-IMP

Don't point at me!

WIth other verbs, it simply indicates that the action or state takes place in a specific location: Techa yindi ibnya.

techa yindi ibnya

then therefore PROX-started

So it started there. Nas massene salmaq setlal: qâ aqatpan tewâttlas sawâttlas.

nas massene s-a-lmaq se-tlal / know a-qatp-an te-wâttlas sa-wâttlas

true many my-PRF.PROX-remember this-room / PRF.PROX-behead-MED his-grandfather my-grandfather.

This room is full of memories: for instance, my great-grandfather was beheaded here.

Many verbs begin with i-, for instance: ico 'to come', iqâ 'to know', itlel 'to steal', itas 'to stand'. Etymologically, it generally means the proximal prefix was added to a monosyllabic verb.

The proximal prefix can't be added to these verbs, and their meaning is proximal : ice!

ic-e

come-IMP

Come here!

etset

ets-et

IPRF\stand-PAST

He was standing here. The proximal prefix is also added to monosyllabic borrowings:


 * ipôn 'to call, to phone' ← English 'phone'
 * imel 'to mail, to send an email'. ← English 'mail'

Finally, the proximal prefix can be used to give an intensive meaning, or to give a sense of urgency: yechnix isre!

y-echnix i-sr-e

your-crossbow PROX-lower-IMP

'Put down your crossbow, right now.

wayiitacmon

wa-yi-i-ta-cmon

I-you-PROX-DAT\PRF-order

'I gave you an order. (So do it right away!)'

Iminjô

i-minjô

PROX-be.nice

'He's the nicest one around. '

The distal prefix
With verbs of motion, the distal prefix da- expresses motion away: Daqcha

da-qcha

DIST-run

'He runs away.' Dâra.

dâ-ra

DIST-go

'He's gone.'

Xowe nonyatl denyôq.

xowe nonyatl da-nyôq

look mountain.lion DIST\IPRF-climb

'Look! The mountain lion is climbing away. '

With other verbs, it indicates a distant location: ''Laya yixxô? Yin dadsis.''

laya yi-xxô / yin da-dsis

where your-sister / it.is DIST-dance

'Where's your sister? Gone dancing. ' Erse ya yin watloyin dara. Askĕrim odeqtis.

erse ya yin wa-tloyin da-ra / askĕrim o-de-qtis

Earth anyway it.is I-want DIST.GO / ice.cream UCT-DIST\PRF-prepare.food

'Earth? Ah, yes, I want to go there. They have ice cream there. ' You can use the da- distal prefix with the verbs in i- in which case it replaces it: Min massene tadaqi Erdani an bon taiwor

min massene ta-da-q-i Erdani an bon ta-iwor

and much UCT-DIST-know-PL Erdani that king UCT-say

'They know much of what the king says over in Erdani'

Figuratively, the distal prefix can be understood as referring to 'us' vs. 'them' in that it indicates an action aimed at 'outsiders', as seen from the speaker reference point.

From an historical work: Massetl an tledaixmĭnin Taretl

Massetl an tle-da-ixmĭn-in taretl

Massetl that ANIM-DIST-arrow-MED taretl

'The Taretl shot arrows at the Massetl' Without the distal prefix, there would be a potential ambiguity: the prefix tle- indicates that arrows were shot at an animate referent, which could be either the Massetl or the Taretl.

Taking context into account, though, the story is told from a Taretl perspective; the distal prefix indicates that the arrow was aimed away from the protagonists.

The distal prefix may also indicate a pejorative meaning, the distance being seen in those cases as a departure from the norm: Nas dânrer an wewjo.

nas dâ-nrer an wewjo

True DIST\IPRF-vinegar that wine.

'The wine has gone sour' Xa widason.

alas wi-da-son

1.OBL-DIST-sleep

'I overslept'

Privative
The meaning of the privative qa- is one of strong negation:


 * taqawcha 'she refuses to write it'
 * qewcha 'he can't write'

It's most often used with imperfect or perfect:


 * qetlsis 'he never dances'
 * qâwcha 'unwritten'
 * qemyer 'he never drinks, he's a tee-totaller';

Other senses include 'to remove X' :


 * larmaq 'to remember' → qalmaq 'to forget'
 * toris 'cork stopper, to use a cork' → qatris 'to uncork'
 * watchô 'to dress' → qawtchô 'to undress'

It can also express than an action is undone:


 * watchô 'to dress' → qawtchô 'to undress'
 * dara 'to go away' → iqra 'to come back' (here combined with a distance prefix)

Repetition
The repetitive prefix ko- indicates that an action has been repeated:


 * iwor 'he speaks' → koiwor 'he speaks again'
 * tawecha 'he writes it' → taqowcha 'he writes it again, he rewrites it'

With verbs prefixed with i-, that prefix can be either kept or removed:


 * ico 'she comes' → koco 'she comes again' or koico 'here she comes again'

Association
The associative prefix si- expresses that the action is underwent by several animate subjects: Tlakatl yin sibom bonni

tlakatl yin se-bom bonni

Tlakatl exist ASS-rule.DUAL king-DUAL

'In Tlakatl two kings come conjointly' Sicew!

ses-c-e-w

ASS-come-IMP-DUAL

'Come with me! / Let's go together'

Optionally the accompanying party can be indicated with a secondary object prefix: Nas xixwisikmis an allexoll.

nas xi-x-wi-su-kmis an allexol-l

true you-HAND-me-ASS-wash that dish-PL

'You will wash the dishes with me' It can also be used to indicate an action affecting several objects, particularly when those are brought together: Waâmsibăskon an apsem.

wa-âm-se-băskon an aps-em

I-MOV-ASS-do.carpentry that beam-DUAL

I join the two beams together. Min yindi tlesiqtlet môyam

men yindi se-qtlet mô-yam

and therefore ASS-attach ox-DUAL

'So he harnessed a pair of oxen (to a plow)'

Reflexive
The reflexive prefix lo- indicates that the subjects acts upon his/herself.


 * watlexowô 'I see him/her' → waloxwô 'I see myself'

Where English uses transitive verbs intransitively, with a reflexive meaning: 'I wash', 'I shave', Simbri uses the reflexive forms.


 * watlekejam 'I wash him/her' → walokjam 'I wash myself':
 * watleqonon 'I shave him/her' → waloqnon 'I shave (myself)'

The reflexive prefix, naturally enough, only applies to transitive verbs.

Sometimes, the reflexive form entails a semantic shift, sometimes unpredictable:


 * wibistle 'it makes me sick, it caused me a disease' → walobĭstle 'I sin, I commit a sin'.

Reciprocal
The reciprocal prefix te- applies to transitive verbs, and mandates the dual or the plural in finite verb forms. It is equivalent to 'each other':


 * watleima 'I love her' → wateime 'we love each other'

Again, where English uses verbs intransitively, with a reciprocal meaning: 'they fight', Simbri uses the reciprocal:


 * tlemajji 'they fight him/them' → temajji 'they fight (each other)'

Applicative
The applicative prefix promotes a constituent to indirect object. That constituent is generally an instrument or a complement of manner or reason: ''Walowjô tleni qassem. → (Applicative) Watletolowjô qassem.''

wa-lo-wjô tle-ni qass-em / wa-tle-to-lo-wjô qass-em

1-REFL-hide ANIM-against other-ANIM.PL / 1-ANIM-APPL-REFL-hide other-ANIM.PL

'I hide from other people.' Seboyam an watlentawyămet Yeworis bon.

se-boyam an wa-tle-n-ta-wyăm-et Yeworis bon

this-sword that 1-ANIM-BLADE-APPL\PRF-kill-PAST Yeworis king.

'I killed King Yeworis with that sword.'

If the object is the beneficiary of the action, the dative construction is used. Compare for instance, the difference between: (Dative:) Waxyasin wetlis.

wa-x-y-asin wetlis

1-HAND-2.OBL-PRF\buy book

'I bought you a book, I bought a book for you' (Applicative:) Waxyitasnô wetlis.

wa-x-yi-ta-snô wetlis

1-HAND-2.OBL-PRF\APPL-buy book

'I bought you a book, I bought a book for you'

Causative
The causative turns a verb into a derived version meaning 'to cause X to VERB':


 * ôjjô 'to eat' → wôjjô 'to make eat, to feed'
 * wecha 'to write' → wôwcha 'to dictate'
 * xowô 'to see' → wôxwô 'to show'

With intransitive verb, the causer becomes the subject, and the origin subject becomes the objec:t Owetlăntis basker.

o-we-tlăntis bask-er

UCT-CAUS\IPRF-fall tree-PL

 'He's making trees fall'  i.e.  'He's felling trees'  With transitive verbs, the causer becomes the subject, the original subject becomes the object, and the original object becomes the secondary object: Lacha watawôtnyos?

la-cha wa-ta-wô-tny-os

what-CT 1-CT-CAUS-hear-SUBJ

'What should I cause (you) to hear' i.e. 'What should I tell you?' In that case, 'you' is left unmentioned, and does not appear as a prefix.With ditransitives, in a similar fashion, the causer becomes the subject, the original subject is left out, the original object and secondary object remain in place.

Secondary Object Watlexwatcham wobis tlesâs.

wa-tle-x-wa-tcham wobis tle-sâs

1-ANIM-HAND-CAUS\PRF-give ball ANIM-sister.

'I made (her) give the ball to her sister.' Manqeoteqo sador wadoywômsa yime.

Manqeoteq-o sador wa-do-y-wô-msa yim-e

Manqeoteq-VOC house 1-BUILD-2.OBL-CAUS-build stonemason-PL

'O Manqeoteq! I have the stonemasons build a house for you. ' In that last example, the relation of yime 'stonemasons' to the main verb (ie. that they do the actual building) is left unmarked, but is understood from context.

In the first example, the child (the one who gives the ball to her sister) doesn't appear in the sentence, neither as a noun nor as a prefix.

When necessary, disambiguation can be provided with the benefactive (identifying the recipient): Noyindi watlexwatcham wobis tlesâs.

Noyin-di wa-tle-x-wa-tcham wobis tle-sâs

Noyin-BEN 1-ANIM-HAND-CAUS\PRF-give ball ANIM-sister

I made her sister give the ball to Noyin. Or the comitative (identifying the original subject, that is the one doing the actual action): Sador wadotlewômsa yimes.

sador wa-do-tle-wô-msa yim-e-s

house 1-BUILD-ANIM-CAUS-build stonemason-PL-with

'I have the stonemasons build a house for him. '

Combining prefixes
Prefixes can be stacked, in that order: "Causative-Applicative-Reciprocal/Reflexive-Associative-Repetitive-Negative-Distance-(CCVC verb stem)"The reciprocal and reflexive are mutually incompatible.

Only one vowel is ever removed: the first one in the root. (Which means there are no short allomorphs of the prefixes). Finally, aspect is marked on the vowel of the prefix closest to the root.

A few examples:

'I made him recount with me' Watlewôsikasĭmqâs

wa-tle-wô-si-ka-sĭmqâs

1-ANIM-CAUS-ASS-REP\PRF-count

'I made him recount with me'

Senâtcha tosiqadace.

se-nâtcha to-si-qa-da-c-e

this-horse APPL-ASS-PRIV-DIST-go-IMP

'Ride back home with me on that horse.' Yindi oô metatokowchis

yindi o-ô me-ta-to-ko-wch-is

therefore 0-CT-APPL-REP-write-FUT.

'Then you rewrite it in red ink.' Obi watlewôtiisis

obi wa-tle-wô-ti-isis

well 1-ANIM-APPL-RECIP\IPRF-meet

'I make people meet each other'

There seems to be, in practice, an upper limit of three verbal prefixes. Monosyllabic verbs already including a prefix, such as ico 'to come' may have up to to four prefixes.

Native speakers judge verbs with more prefixes, such as: ?watlewôtekeisis 'I make people meet each other again' to be grammatical, but don't seem to produce them on their own.

Spatial suffixes
A number of suffixes indicating state of movement can be added to a verb. The construction works as follow:


 * Remove the last vowel of the stem, to form the CVCC stem (this is the stem used for past, mediative and future).
 * Add the appropriate suffixes. Some suffixes have different forms depending on whether the CVCC ends in a vowel (for instance wecha → wech-) or in a consonant (awen → awn-)

The list of suffixes is given below, as applied to two example verbs: wecha 'to write' and awen 'to sow'

Aspect of suffixed verbs
With the monosyllabic suffixes -an, -atl, -bar and with -ĭbar, aspect is marked, as usual by changing the first vowel of the verb stem:


 * tassô 'to read' → watatassô 'I read it' → watatassan 'I sit down and read it' → watessan 'I sit down and read'
 * qisas 'to open a door' → qisas 'she opens a door' → qissĭbar 'she rises up and opens the door, she opens the door suddenly' → qassĭbar 'she opened the door suddenly'

For verbs with an irregular perfect or imperfect, the suffix is applied to the irregular form:


 * larmaq 'to remember', perfect qarma → watlelarmaq 'I remember him' → watleqarmĭbar 'I remember him suddenly'
 * iyan 'to forge, to work metal', imperfect ami → amatl 'He acts as if he regularly works metal, he seems to be a blacksmith'

With the suffixes -recha/-yecha, -inde, -owar, -otis, aspect is marked by changing the first vowel of the suffix:


 * ikot 'to knit' → ikotracha 'I've been knitting repeatedly, I've been knitting all day'
 * tassô 'to read' → tassetis 'I often read lying down.'

Verbs with an irregular perfect or imperfect use the simple stem (that is, aspect is carried by the suffix alone):


 * ,iyan 'to forge' → iyanetis 'he forges metal competently, he's a very good blacksmith'
 * manô 'to put', perfect manya → ximaninde tletopeq 'He 's been going along putting things on people's heads'

Tense suffixes
The tense suffixes are placed after the spatial suffix. If possible, the last vowel of the suffix is deleted, otherwise weakened:


 * yisom 'to meditate' → yisomotis 'I lie down meditating' → yisomotset 'I was lying down meditating'
 * worô 'to break' → xiworyecha 'He moves around breaking stuff' → xiworyĕchis 'He will move around breaking stuff'

With verb with irregular tense formation, the spatial suffix is added to the infinitive, then the tense suffix is added. The formation is always regular:


 * tewar 'to call', present tewân → tletewân 'she calls him' → tletewratl 'she looks like she's calling him' → tletewrătlan 'she looked like she was calling him'

Mood
The subjunctive is marked, much like tense, by removing/weakening the last vowel of the prefix, and adding the subjunctive suffix:


 * iras, 'to sing' →(Mediative subjunctive) wirsătlon 'It looks like she might have been singing...'
 * lowôqtlis 'to practice' → (Subjunctive) Yilowôqtlotso  'If you practiced...'

The optative is marked, as usual, with an infix -i. The infix is place either after the first vowel of the verb stem ( with -an, -atl, -bar and with -ĭbar) or after the first vowel of the suffix (with -recha/-yecha, -inde, -owar, -otis):


 * yirâ 'to figure out, to determine' →watayairatl 'I (wish to) appear to have figured it out'
 * ason 'to sleep' → asnoitis 'I wish to lie down and sleep'

Noun incorporation
Noun incorporation consists of joining a noun and a verb to form a new compound verb, the noun being incorporated into the verb.

There are three forms of incorporation in Simbri:

Modifying incorporation
The noun stem is added immediately before the verb stem. The noun stem is incorporated alone, without the nominal ending. Watlekajam yitlome → Watletlomkajam.

wa-tle-kajam yi-tlom-e → wa-yi-tlom-kajam

1-ANIM-wash 2.OBL-foot-DUAL → 1-2.OBL-foot-wash

'I wash your feet' The relation in meaning between the nominal element and the verbal element may fall under any of the following categories:

Circumstancial relationship
The incorporated noun is a complement of manner or even a locative: Ojôntleyin tlamjô.

o-jôn-tleyin tlamjô

UCT-smoke-dry.PL rodent.leg

They're smoke-drying rodent legs. Sotlom ya tloyewa.

so-tlom ya tloy-ewa

1.EXCL-son anyway town-IPRF\fight.

'My son is in town, looking for a fight'

Comparison
Either the subject or the object is compared to the incorporated noun: Min wayimayewor!

min wa-yi-may-awor

and 1-2.OBL-lord-PRF\speak

'But I spoke to you as a lord!' Otlekâdewar tlemâ seqoji.

o-tle-kâd-ewar tle-mâ se-qoji

4-ANIM-Hippidion-IPRF\call ANIM-mother that-baby

'That baby is calling for a mother (braying) like an Hippidion. '

Relationship of the part to the whole
This type of incorporation is the one used in our example earlier: utWatletlomkajam.

wa-yi-tlom-kajam

1-2.OBL-foot-wash The possessor 'you' as in 'your feet' is promoted to direct object, while the original object is incorporated.

Some subjects may be promoted this way, promoting the possessor to subject: Wonyan ''sotope. → watopwonyan''

wonyan so-tope → wa-top-wonyan

suffer 1.EXCL-head → 1-head-suffer

'My head hurts.' → 'I have a headache.' As we see in the example above, this is typically used with parts of the body, but this form of relationship isn't restricted to these: ''Yindi sorontli waamnyaya. → Soron wadoyinnyaya.''

yin-di soron-tli wa-am-nyaya → soron wa-do-yin-nyaya

Stone-PL garden-IN 1-MOV-PRF\seize → garden 1-BUILD-stone-take

'I removed the stones in my garden', 'I cleaned my garden'

Incorporation of the agent.
This type of incorporation produces compound verbs that are always in the perfect; it is often best to translate as a passive: Wakekkakla

wa-kekk-akla

1-snake-PRF\bite

'I was bitten by a snake.' Although the subject can still be mentioned: Yiwka wiistanqan tletletobmer an qerwi.

Yiwka wi-is-tanq-an tle-tle-to-bmer an qerw-i

Yiwkan 1.OBL-divine-teach-MED ANIM-ANIM-APPL-propitiate that rapist-PL

'The godess Yiwka taught us to sacrifice the rapist.' There are several possible interpretations: this sentence could be interpreted either as a comparison: 'As a goddess, Yiwka taught us...' or as circumstancial 'Yiwka taught divinely...'

Instances of an explicit subject added to a verb with an incorporated agent appear to be a focalization strategy: 'It is Yiwka (and no other godess) that taught us to sacrifice the rapist).

Object incorporation
Object incorporation forms a compound of a verb and its direct object. The last vowel of the verb is removed (that is, we're using the CVCC stem), and the incorportated noun is added after it, with the singular form of the nominal ending:

For instance:

Wadotlanda memâron →watlanmemâron

wa-do-tlanda memâron →wa-tlan-memâron

1-BUILD-sell bread →1-sell-breb stem, to break any illegal clusters

Waxinoyar tlomrix →Wanoyrĭtlomris

wa-xi-noyar tlomr-ix → wa-noyri-tlomris

1-HAND-make shoe-PL → 1-make-shoe

'I make shoes'

Lexical formation
An independent object implies a more specific instance: 'I make these shoes', 'I sell this bread, a particular kind of bread'.

Noun incorporation is generally used lexically, to form new verbs for concepts that are seen as unitary actions. The perfective or imperfective infinitives very often form derive nous:


 * bastis 'to fish' →bastĭskocha 'to fish cod', imperfective bastĭskecha 'be a cod fisher'
 * potchi 'to mix' + tlomon 'pebble' →pochtlomon 'to make concrete', pochtlamon 'concrete'.

Which processes are seen as unitary actions, or to use the terminology in Mithun (1984), which activities are seen as name-worthy depends, of course, on Simbri semantics:


 * atli 'to perform a ritual' + isi 'supernatural being' →atlisi 'to impersonate a god as part of a religious ceremony'

Background information
Noun incorporation can be used to remove focus from a noun, typically old information, and bring the focus to new information.

This type of incorporation can only be done on very general nouns. Considering this example:

Yin sewannin tlebaqo sômâ

yin se-wannin tle-bâqo s-ôma

exist this-panther ANIM-PRF\devour 1.OBL-grandmother

'This panther has eaten grandma.'

The sentence: *Sewannin tlebaqômâ with incorporated ômâ 'grandmother' is ungrammatical, whereas Sewannin tlebaqmoris 'This panther has eaten people', with incorporated 'person' is acceptable.

This use of incorporation overlaps with the previous one: in general, incorporation is used in context that lends themselved to lexicalization. (Compare the English: 'This tiger is a man-eater'.

Changing valency
The general effect is of turning a transitive verb into an intransitive one; a secondary object may be promoted to direct object in this way: Tlesessocar tlexiris.

tle-sen-socar tle-xiris

ANIM-buy-tobacco ANIM-wife

'He's buying tobacco for his wife' A direct object can be stated explicitly, simply by reintroducing an object prefix: Marbi-ticham tôrmĭqeyi

Marbi-ticham tôrmĭ-qeyi

Marbi-ticham

Marbi-HON  protect-IPRF\people. The Honorable Marbi is a protector of the people. Marbi-ticham tletôrmĭqeyi Mannessiq

Marbi-ticham tle-tôrmĭ-qeyi Manness-iq

Marbi-HON ANIM-protect-IPRF\people Mannesse-PL.FROM

'The Honorable Marbi protects the people of Mannesse' But if the object does not benefit from the action, the applicative prefix must be used: Tletonenrĭwisi tlecayin.

tle-to-nenrĭ-wisi tle-ca-yin

ANIM-APPL-hate-woman ANIM-daughter-PL

'He dislikes his daughters, he's a misogynist with respect to his daughters.'

Short nouns
Short nouns may also be incorporated. For both modifying incorporation and object incorporation, they are placed before the verb stem. Waqiajô.

wa-qi-ajô

1-fire-ignite

I'm starting the fire.

Yaason.

ya-ason

day-sleep.

'He's having a nap' The form used is the singular (not the singulative). For instance, we have: Wadoajô qitlo.

wa-do-ajô qi-tlo

1-BUILD-ignite fire-SNGV but *waqitloajô/*waqitlajô are ungrammatical.

For noun in -iy-, the monosyllabic form of the noun is used. For instance for siya 'sea' we have: Wasakemon not *wasiyakemon

wa-sa-kemon

1-sea-IPRF\order

'I command at sea'

Noun-first object incorporation.
An incorporated object may sometimes appear before the verb, even if it is a long noun. In those cases, just like a modifying incorporated noun, it occurs without the nominal ending: Altendisô xiyeqmoyi, xiattlĭmoyin!

Atlendis-ô xi-yeq-moyi xi-attlĭ-moyin

Atlendis-VOC 2-thunder-wield 2-planet-drive

'O Atlendis, thou wieldest thunder and thou drivest planets!' Bosen monyar moqbeqi.

bos-en monyar moq-beq-i

wild.boar-PL a.little animal-IPRF\devour-PL

'Wild boars are carnivores on occasion.' That construction is a calque of Old Tarandim and Imperial Tarandim structures; in both languages ncorporated nouns consistently occured before the verb. In Simbri this is generally restricted to poetry or scholarly works.

It is also characteristic of the Tarisqi dialect.

Toqdellar. vs Koine deyrĭtopjô

toq-dellar / dayrĭ-tepjô

hair-PRF\cut / cut-PRF\HAIR

'He cuts hair. He's a barber.'

Conjugation of verbs with incorporated nouns.
Verbs with incorporated nouns are conjugated according to the following rule: patterns, infixes and suffixes are applied to the last two syllables.

Verb-last incorporation
In practice, this means that when the incorporated noun stem is placed before the verb, the verb conjugates as usual, including irregularities: Tlamiyan.

tlam-iyan

gold-work.metal

'He's fashioning something out of gold.' Tlamami.

tlam-ami

gold-IPRF\work.metal

'He habitually works metal, he's a goldsmith' Topwonyan

top-wonyan

head-suffer.PRST

'I have a headache' Topiwnan

top-iwn-an

head-suffer-MED

'He says he had a headache'

Spatial suffixes are added after the verb, following the rules stated before: Watopiwnotset

wa-top-iwn-ots-et

1-head-suffer-lie.down-PAST

'I was lying down with a headache'

Verb-first incorporation
When a noun occurs last (that is, with object incorporation for long nouns), the rule is simple but somewhat disconcerting: treat the noun, or the last two syllables of the noun, as if it was a regular verb.

That is, the incorporated receives the suffixes, patterns and infixes instead of the verb: Ôjyachô

ôj-yachô

eat-fruit

'He's eating fruit' Ôjyâchô

ôj-yâchô

eat-PRF\fruit

'He has eaten fruit' Waôjyaichix.

wa-ôj-ya <i>ch-ix

wa-ôj-ya<OPT>ch-FUT.PL

'Hopefully we'll eat fruit' Xiôjyachoen.

xi-ôj-yach-oe-n

2-eat-fruit-SUBJ.PL-MED

'You (pl) say you might have eaten fruit'

And of course, spatial suffixes are added to the noun, with the corresponding loss of the last vowel: Ôjyachindet

Ôj-yach-ind-et

eat-fruit-go.along-PAST

'He was walking along, eating fruit.'

A few traps
Many nouns are quite transparently derived from verbs, some of them irregular, and these can be incorporated. For instance, deban, 'judge', which is also the imperfect form of daban, 'to judge', perfect 'dabya'.

Even in those cases, the incorporated noun must be treated as if it were a regular verb: Tletomanqdeban →Tletomanqdaban and not *Tletomanqdabya.

ANIM-APPL-ask-judge. →ANIM-APPL-ask-PRF\judge

'He's suing someone' → 'He has sued someone' If the compound verb is derived from an irregular verb, the simple infitive stem is always used. For instance, with iyan, Imperf. ami, Perf. anya, 'to forge, to work metal'.

''Iynĭboyam. → Iynĭbayam and not *anyboyam''

iynĭ-boyam →iynĭ-bayam

work.metal-sword →work.metal-PRF\sword

'He forges a sword'

Dialect variation and Old Simbri forms.
Older forms of Simbri went through intermediate steps during which conjugation patterns applied to the verb stem, not the noun, or where incorporated noun derived from verbs carried over their irregularities; In short, you may meet, in written Simbri, such fixed formulas as: Bon kamnĭmoya.

bon kamnĭ-moya

king PRF\summon-PRF\call

'The king summoned the heralds' Where both incorporated noun and verb stem are marked for perfect.

As usual with Simbri, there is a great deal of dialectal variation. Generally speaking, the outer dialects adopt a kind of middle way, inflecting the verb stem for aspect and applying suffixes to the incorporated noun. Compare for instance, Delta-Serene Bâtkoxet vs. Koine Bâstĭskachet.

Prefixes on verbs with VI.
Subject and object prefixes, as we've seen in the previous example occur before both noun and verb stem: Wa-yi-tlom-kajam

wa-yi-tlom-kajam

1-2.OBL-foot-wash

'I wash your feet' Semayan winyatechmĭdomet.

se-mayan win-ya-techmĭ-dom-et

this-lord 1.OBL-tooth-give-tax

This lord paid his taxes reluctanctly (lit. 'with teeth'.

Other prefixes
Non-pronominal prefixes consistently occur after pronominal prefixes and before the verb stem: Waybŏnicomon

wa-yi-i-bŏn-comon

1-2.OBL-DIST-king-give.order

'I give you a royal order' Walonŏyrĭtlomris

wa-lo-nŏyrĭ-tlomris

1-REF-make-shoes

'I make shoes for myself'

General structure of the verb
As an help to the reader, the chart below summarizes which features may be marked on the verb, and in what order:

Noun-verb flexibility
The predicative counterpart of a noun is typically, the action that typically involves the referent of the nominal meaning:

Ex; Englihs: stape > to staple.

This shows that

words with mainly action or object semantics have a (more or less strong) preference

for the predicative or the referential function respectively, but are nonetheless fully

grammatical in both these functions.

These data suggest that the infrequency of certain combinations of meaning and

function may also lead to accidental gaps. In fact, Evans and Osada (2005: 381) claim

that certain Mundari kinship terms, such as misi (‘sister’) cannot be used in predica-

tive function, but Peterson (2005) has argued that no such restriction exists, and that

it is rather a matter of finding a suitable pragmatic context, as illustrated by elicited

example (11):